A sustained campaign on behalf of Senate cafeteria workers – including a 63-year-old employee who was homeless because he could not earn enough money to afford an apartment – has succeeded this week in getting these workers a desperately needed boost in pay and benefits. Thanks to the organizing efforts of Good Jobs Nation and …
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) threw down the gauntlet for Congress and President Obama Tuesday morning, joining hundreds of low-wage contract workers from federal buildings who are striking in advance of Pope Francis’ visit to Washington, D.C. Speaking to the assembled workers at a nearby Catholic Church, Sanders urged U.S. lawmakers to take seriously the pontiff’s …
Uber drivers in six major U.S. cities would receive paid holidays and health care benefits worth an average of $5,500 a year, plus thousands more in mileage reimbursement, if the company provided them with the same benefits as its full-time employees, according to a new NerdWallet study. The California Labor Commissioner’s Office ruled in June …
Uber Drivers Could Gain Thousands in Pay, Benefits as Full-time Employees Read More »
Portland, Oregon’s new bar Loyal Legion doesn’t just offer customers 99 different beer choices. It also requires them to pay zero in tips. When owner Kurt Huffman opened the bar, he wanted to figure out to deal with a problem plaguing all of his establishments: the nearly impossible search to hire talented staff in the …
Bar Owner Eliminates Tips So He Can Pay Cooks And Dishwashers A Living Wage Read More »
Low hourly wages aren’t the only thing that keep workers in the fast food and retail industries struggling. Scheduling matters, too. These days it’s common for workers to not know their schedules more than a week ahead; to be on call, ready to go to work with no notice, but not guaranteed any pay; for …
Democrats push to limit abusive work scheduling practices like split shifts Read More »
Talk about journalism with an immediate impact. Last week’s New York Times investigation of labor law violations and unhealthy working conditions for manicurists in the city’s nail salons has spurred Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take sweeping emergency action: Nail salons that do not comply with orders to pay workers back wages, or are unlicensed, will …
The labor movement has a new driving message for its legislative, educational and political work that should resonate with most American workers, especially those who have the least: Your pay is too damn low! AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka put it less colloquially this week than the New York gubernatorial candidate who once ran on a single message: “Rent …
Following Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray’s veto Thursday of a living wage bill for workers in big-box stores such as Walmart, backers of Large Retailer Accountability Act (LRAA) are mounting a campaign to override the veto. The bill, which sets a $12.50 wage for workers, passed the D.C. City Council in June by an 8–5 …
Veto Override Battle Next Step in D.C. Living Wage Campaign Read More »
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On the eve of a march to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, labor and civil rights activists are calling on President Barack Obama to honor King with an executive order that would raise wages for as many as two million workers. One of the most poignant calls came Wednesday …
At MLK March, Renewed Call For Obama Executive Order on Wages Read More »
What started out last fall as a one-day walkout at fast-food restaurants to protest poverty-level wages and stand up for basic human dignity has transformed into a movement that has captured the public interest. I’ve been privileged, especially in recent weeks, to talk to institutional partners, policymakers and media about why low-wage workers across the …
We Cannot Build a Strong, Equitable Economy on Low-Paying Jobs Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
